Research Pilot · Ages 17–22

Nine assessments.
One honest picture of you.

Lens is a research pilot that uses validated psychological instruments to help students understand their personality, values, motivations, and how they think — then synthesizes the results, alongside your academic data, into a personal profile, with optional next steps on the types of colleges and majors that fit who you are.

How It Works

1

Create your account

Enter your email. We'll send a sign-in link — no password needed.

2

Check your email

Click the link in your inbox to land on your personal dashboard.

3

Complete your 9 assessments

Work through the personality, values, and motivation assessments at your own pace. Each takes 2–20 minutes. All 9 are required — your dashboard tracks what's left.

4

Add your academic data

A quick, separate step — enter your GPA and SAT/ACT scores. Real-world data, not a psychometric assessment, but required alongside the 9.

5

Generate your profile

Once all 9 assessments and your academic data are done, generate an AI-synthesized portrait of your strengths, motivations, and fit.

6

Explore college fit

Optional — get general ideas on the types of colleges likely to fit you, grounded in research on personality and belonging. No specific schools named.

7

Explore major fit

Optional — get a framework for the fields of study worth exploring, based on your interests and how you think.

About this research pilot

Lens is a research pilot made available to a small group of students aged 17–22. Its purpose is to explore how combining multiple validated psychometric instruments can produce more useful self-knowledge for young people than any single assessment does on its own.

Most instruments in the suite come from published academic research and have been validated in peer-reviewed studies with large, cross-cultural samples. The Big Five personality framework (Goldberg, 1992) has been replicated across more than 50 countries. The Schwartz Values Survey (PVQ-40) was validated across 82 nations. Grit (Duckworth & Quinn, 2009) has been studied in West Point cadets, spelling bee finalists, and students in under-resourced schools. The BPNSFS operationalizes Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan), the leading academic framework for understanding human motivation. The profile synthesis works the way an experienced psychologist reads an integrated report: it draws on genuinely well-established research for a handful of key relationships (Big Five–RIASEC overlap, Big Five–Schwartz values overlap, Openness and fluid/verbal reasoning), and beyond that, it looks for patterns that converge across your own results rather than claiming every instrument pairing has been individually validated against every other — most haven't, and no honest synthesis tool would pretend otherwise. Two custom-built cognitive tasks, Matrix Reasoning and 3D Rotation, are currently on hold and not part of the required battery — see the Research page for the full, honest breakdown of what's genuine versus custom in every instrument.

Your responses are stored securely and are accessible only to you and the research team. Individual data is never shared publicly. Results are intended for personal reflection and discussion with an advisor — not as diagnostic tools. For the full research behind every instrument, the synthesis, and the college/major fit guidance, see the Research page.

The Suite

The 9 Core Assessments

All 9 — covering personality, values, motivation, psychological needs, risk tolerance, passion, and leadership style — are required to generate your profile, along with a quick step to add your academic data. Complete them in any order.

Goldberg (1992) · IPIP-50
Big Five Personality
Maps your core personality across five dimensions — Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability, and Openness. The most replicated finding in personality psychology, validated across more than 50 countries.
~6 min 50 items Personality
Duckworth & Quinn (2009) · Grit-S
Grit Scale
Measures perseverance of effort and consistency of interest toward long-term goals. Developed by Angela Duckworth at UPenn; validated with West Point cadets, spelling bee finalists, and students across a range of school settings.
~3 min 10 items Motivation
Schwarzer & Jerusalem (1995) · GSE
General Self-Efficacy
Assesses belief in your ability to handle difficult situations and achieve goals through your own effort. Normative data from more than 19,000 participants across 25 countries. Based on Bandura's self-efficacy theory.
~3 min 10 items Confidence
Holland (1959) · O*NET · U.S. Dept. of Labor
Work Interest Profiler
Produces your RIASEC code — a 3-letter representation of your work interests across Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional dimensions. Widely used in career and academic advising worldwide.
~5 min 30 items Interests
Schwartz (2001) · PVQ-40
Personal Values Portrait
Maps your value priorities across 10 universal values on Schwartz's motivational circumplex. One of the most cross-culturally validated instruments in social psychology, with data from 82 countries and over 70,000 participants.
~7 min 40 items Values
Chen, Vansteenkiste et al. (2015) · BPNSFS
Psychological Needs Survey
Measures how well your three core psychological needs — Autonomy, Competence, and Relatedness — are currently being met and frustrated. Based on Self-Determination Theory, the leading academic framework for human motivation.
~5 min 24 items Wellbeing
Zhang, Highhouse & Nye (2018) · GRiPS
Risk Propensity (GRiPS)
The General Risk Propensity Scale — a short, broad measure of your trait-level willingness to take risks across life domains, published in the Journal of Behavioral Decision Making after testing across several validation samples.
~2 min 8 items Risk Tolerance
Vallerand et al. (2003) · Passion Scale
Passion Scale
Rates one activity you genuinely love against Vallerand's Dualistic Model of Passion — whether it fits harmoniously alongside the rest of your life, or feels more obsessive and hard to step back from.
~5 min 17 items Passion
Adapted from Podsakoff, MacKenzie, Moorman & Fetter (1990)
Leadership Styles Inventory
A first-person adaptation of the Transformational Leadership Inventory, covering six leadership behaviors — articulating a vision, leading by example, building team unity, high expectations, individualized support, and intellectual stimulation.
~7 min 24 items Leadership